New NatGeo Bigfoot Show With Dr. Jeff Meldrum

A new National Geographic show simply titled Bigfoot will air on Sunday January 24th. While not a lot is being said on the NatGeo site, besides the two videos embedded below, we do know Jeff Meldrum and his research will be the primary focus.

When Meldrum talks Bigfooters listen, some would say he is the heir apparent of Grover Krantz as the highest ranking acedemic in the field. Dr. Meldrum is an Associate Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology and has a bio on Wikipedia that continues to highlight his credentials:

Meldrum received his B.S. in zoology specializing in vertebrate locomotion at Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1982, his M.S. at BYU in 1984 and a Ph.D. in anatomical sciences, with an emphasis in biological anthropology, from State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1989. He held the position of postdoctoral visiting assistant professor at Duke University Medical Center from 1989 to 1991. Meldrum worked at Northwestern University's Department of Cell, Molecular and Structural Biology for a short while in 1993 before joining the faculty of Idaho State University where he currently teaches.

One of the telling signs of what is in store for the show is the Special Thanks list in the credits

IDAHO VIRTUALIZATION LAB
PACIFIC SURVEY SUPPLY
IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY
IDAHO VIRTUALIZATION LABORATORY
JIM HENSON'S CREATURE WORKSHOP
WILLIAM MUNNS
BIGFOOT FIELD RESEARCHERS ORGANIZATION
EPIC SCANS
CONROE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
BRIM AVIATION
PAUL HUBBARD
BRIM AVIATION
RYAN HAGERTY
AMBER PERKINS
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

One of the most interesting list items is Jim Henson's Creature Shop, where the investigators try to determine if it was possible the Patterson Bigfoot was a human in a costume. Pictured below is a gorilla mask and animatronic head at Jim Henson's Creature Workshop in Burbank, CA.



Below is are the two preview videos along with the captions provided at the NatGeo site.

There's no conclusive proof that Bigfoot exists. Still, experts like Dr. Jeff Meldrum offer some compelling arguments.



Meldrum and Mionsynski take to the mountains of Wyoming, where recent sightings of Big Foot have been reported.



EXTERNAL LINKS
The Official NatGeo site for the Bigfoot Documentary
Meldrum's Idaho State University homepage
Meldrum's biography at Idaho State University

New Zealand Herald: Less Bigfoot, More Big Money

In our post "Hart-less" written by Hermon Joyner, Leigh Hart is exposed as a prankster at a Bigfoot Conference in Ohio.

Leigh Hart (pictured left), aka “That Guy”—a humor columnist/comedian for the New Zealand Herald that seems to be a cross between Dave Barry and Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat), recently tweaked the noses and bruised the egos of the dedicated Bigfooters attending a Bigfoot conference in Ohio. Like “Borat,” Hart travels around misrepresenting himself while depending on the kindness and naiveté of strangers. He then writes or films humorous accounts of his exploits, mostly at the expense of the people he meets. Hart’s latest victims/subjects were the attendees at the 21st Annual Bigfoot Conference / EXPO at the Salt Fork State Park Lodge in Ohio at the beginning of this month...

...Hart even claimed to own the world’s largest feces analyzing machine, which might explain the distinct odor of BS that surrounded his appearance at the conference.

Ahhh Hermon, ever the wordsmith!

Bigfoot, again, is the subject of Leigh Hart's New Zealand Herald column. Hart jokes that he has been asked to write "Less Bigfoot, more big money for new year"

...I was asked to "focus on things that actually interest people". Apparently a survey conducted in Morrinsville revealed that Bigfoot no longer qualifies as big news...

Thankfully Bigfoot will always be news to us. In case you missed Hart's brand of humor, watch the embedded video below.



We recommend reading the original Hart-less post.
You can read Leigh Hart's new column here.

Seattle's Henry Art Gallery Has Ceramic Bigfoot Skeleton

How did we miss this story? Some of you Bigfooters may remember Clayton Bailey, the ceramic and metal sculptor.

In 1971, inspired by "Bigfoot" stories in his favorite tabloid magazine, the Weekly World News, Clayton Bailey made a ceramic skeleton of an 8 foot humanoid, and claimed that the fictional Dr. Gladstone, an eccentric scientist, had discovered proof of the existence of Bigfoot. His neighbors and friends helped him discover the bigfoot skeleton, and dropping; in his backyard, which was handy, and it eliminated travel expenses. Seasonal mudslides on the nearby hillside even eliminated the need to dig. According to press releases issued by Dr. Gladstone.

Below is Clayton Bailey, in character as Dr.Gladstone, presenting his piece aptly titled "Bigfoot Skeleton."



Flash forward to nearly 40 years later and the Bigfoot skeleton is among one of 24,000 pieces in the permanent collection of Seattle's Henry Art Gallery. It was hidden in the attic among 100 pieces that are being displayed as "Vortexhibition Polyphonica". These pieces will be on display through March 2011.

What will be missing from the Gallery? Clayton Bailey's follow-up to his Bigfoot Skeleton. Three years later Bailey would, again, become inspired by Bigfoot and create a piece titled "Finding the Bigfoot Dropping" (Shown below)



You can read about the "Vortexhibition Polyphonica" at the Seattle Times
The official Vortexhibition Polyphonica Collection Website is here.
You can go to Clayton Bailey's very funny eccentric site here.

If you visit Bailey's website turn on your speakers and be warned it is rated PG-13 due to some mature humor.